So clever this film - it opens on a prayerful vigil, turns to Moll's monologue (VERY REVEALING this) and then maybe turns into an ill-fated romance between clashing cultures. But that's just the facade.
Moll, like killer whales, smiles all the time. Remember that.
She has the one of the signs of a witch. Remember that.
Her mother is an evil old witch of the social kind. Remember that.
Her father doesn't know where he is half the time. Remember that.
Her brother is a lying selfish slob. Remember that.
Her would-be boyfriend is another lying unattractive slob. Remember that.
Her birthday party is obliterated by her popular sister's pregnancy announcement. Remember that.
She has committed an extreme act of violence. Remember that.
She has nightmares of a violent kind. Remember that.
Pascal represents everything that will annoy Moll's stultifying family - he's freedom of every kind. When Moll moves in with him, she puts away her childish pretty yellow sun dress. Out come the muddy boots and cardigans and darker hues.
Is Pascal a serial killer? He's been convicted mainly of being a teenage tearaway and of having had sex at 18 with a 14 year old. Besides he works with his hands, has dirty fingernails and is a bit sweaty. On Jersey this has the good middleclass burghers (mainly incomers I suspect) in a frisson of horror.
The two are under pressure. Tensions rise between them. He semi-throttles her and she seeks revenge. Does her admission of lying to her would-be boyfriend satisfy that urge?
There's a conciliatory dinner, where she confesses to violence and wants Pascal to admit to being the serial killer, which he does. Why? Is it a genuine confession or an attempt to pacify Moll's inner demons?
Then the denouement: a drive and an act of extreme deception followed by another throttling.
Pascal: "We're the same, you and I."
Who is the Beast?
Moll, like killer whales, smiles all the time. Remember that.
She has the one of the signs of a witch. Remember that.
Her mother is an evil old witch of the social kind. Remember that.
Her father doesn't know where he is half the time. Remember that.
Her brother is a lying selfish slob. Remember that.
Her would-be boyfriend is another lying unattractive slob. Remember that.
Her birthday party is obliterated by her popular sister's pregnancy announcement. Remember that.
She has committed an extreme act of violence. Remember that.
She has nightmares of a violent kind. Remember that.
Pascal represents everything that will annoy Moll's stultifying family - he's freedom of every kind. When Moll moves in with him, she puts away her childish pretty yellow sun dress. Out come the muddy boots and cardigans and darker hues.
Is Pascal a serial killer? He's been convicted mainly of being a teenage tearaway and of having had sex at 18 with a 14 year old. Besides he works with his hands, has dirty fingernails and is a bit sweaty. On Jersey this has the good middleclass burghers (mainly incomers I suspect) in a frisson of horror.
The two are under pressure. Tensions rise between them. He semi-throttles her and she seeks revenge. Does her admission of lying to her would-be boyfriend satisfy that urge?
There's a conciliatory dinner, where she confesses to violence and wants Pascal to admit to being the serial killer, which he does. Why? Is it a genuine confession or an attempt to pacify Moll's inner demons?
Then the denouement: a drive and an act of extreme deception followed by another throttling.
Pascal: "We're the same, you and I."
Who is the Beast?